A state which contains one or more ethnic groups, as identified by religion, language, or colour. Bell (1999) Cult. Geogs. 6, 183 encounters iconic references to the pre-Revolutionary cultural traditions of Muslim central Asia in Tashkent, with the aesthetic of a modernized, multinational (yet Russianized) society, arguing that political elites have a difficult task in rallying citizens around symbols of national autonomy, while not undermining their own legitimacy, which still rests in large part on Soviet-era institutions.